"For ever panting, and for ever young"

Anyone know my title quote? Your high school English teacher's may be disappointed.

I'm panting!



And seaming!



I've started my No Sweat Pants. Man, these go fast. I cast on last night and did most of this while fast forwarding through the Oscars. My color is Ranch. Yeehaw!

I finally crawled my through the button band and now I'm sewing up the side seams on the Baby Knits Cardi. Such tiny stitches, so slow, falling asleep...zzzzzz.

I also bought the zipper for Elle today. I will need to drag out the sewing machine to get it all put together. I am a super-sucky seamstress so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Like all of you, I'm sure, I went to check out Magknits this morning. Congrats to Kerrie, et al for getting it off the ground. I don't want to be one of those people who trashes the hard work of others but I do have a little quibble with it so far. The design is just blah. It's clunky and it detracts from the quality of the work. Hopefully they can snazz things up a bit for the next edition. I will definitely be making one of the darling Sophie bags because, in case you didn't notice yet, I'm a bag addict. (I would be a shoe ho but I have super-wide flipper feet and can't ever find cute shoes to fit so I funnel my frustration into handbags. I worked for Coach for three and a half years before I had my kids.) Java a Go Go by Mariko is adorable. I will have to do a little stash diving and find something that will work well for that. Love these Poppies too but the photo is so out of focus it makes me seasick.

I'm an insanely ardent film fanatic (who seems to have a knack for alliteration). I watch the Oscars each year, usually in disgust. This year there wasn't a surprise in the lot. I knew Sean Penn would win but I really hoped that Bill Murray would win anyway. I was disappointed that City of God did not win for cinematography since it was the only award that it didn't go against ROTK for. Oh well. If you haven't seen City of God, please do. It's stunning and harrowing and will just knock you on your ass. We saw Mystic River last night. We really wanted to like it but just didn't. Neither of us connected at all the characters. I thought most of the performances were strong--especially Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden and Penn--but overall the film did not grab me. It was pretty obvious from the applause that Sean Penn did not just this award for Mystic River but for his last 20 years of work. I, personally, thought his work in 21 Grams was a lot more complex and layered (though I was pretty lukewarm about that film as a whole). I could go on like this for days. I will spare you.

Picture Time

New Afghanalong Contribution




Elle After Felting

I Heart Google

Google rocks. I have the Google Toolbar on my desktop and use it at least ten times a day. When I'm surfing and want to know more about something I just Google it. It also has a pop-up blocker. Today I learned that you can add a Blogger button to your toolbar. It's under "Options." When you find a webpage you want to include in your blog just click on the Blogger button and it creates an entry for you! Neat, huh? Another great Google feature is Froogle. It's far from fool-proof but the idea is that it will search for the best price on an item on sale on the web. So when I'm looking for Rowan All Seasons Cotton I see that Yarn Market has it for $6.80 vs. $7.95 elsewhere.

I've been fiddling a bit with the blog. I wanted some lighter colors now that spring has sprung (here in Seattle at least). Megan of Not Martha gave me the java for the random project photos. Fun! I'm working on creating a page for each project with all the specs. I'm determined to learn photo shop to create a banner, buttons and other cool stuff.

I finished another afghan square. This one is stripes in Jo Sharp Desert Garden. I'll slap a photo up later. Right now I have to pry a three year old off my back and go get his brother from school.

Funk-Bustin'

I sure sounded like I was in a stinky mood yesterday, huh? I guess I inadvertently borrowed the "Wednesday Whine" from Curls and Purls NYC.

Well, thank you all for the pep talk. Here is what I did. I put bpt aside. Too frustrating right now. I need fun, not torment. I decided to put my glove away until fall. I don't need a pair of wool gloves now. The cherry blossoms are blooming and the crocuses are up. I found a container to block Elle on. I folded the mountain of laundry. I went to Stitch 'N Bitch last night and had a great time. I worked on the GE cardi and managed to stay awake! Today I cleaned the kitchen and ate a healthy lunch. I'm feeling better already.

A friend of mine went to Indiana on a family visit for mid-winter break. She got to go to Threadbear! I am so jealous. It sounds just as cool as I thought it would be. She also brought me this lovely handmade stitch marker.



I do a lot of surfing on other knitter's website and I rarely share what I find.

I love Nanette's site. Her work is so fun, exciting and humbling. Plus she's got the cutest new rabbit. I just want to smoosh that cute face (bunny's not Nanette's)!

Alison is witty and wonderful. I love hearing her little tidbits about life in Taiwan.

To me, Bonne Marie is the grand dame of knitbloggers. She includes informative tutorials, fabulous free patterns and a lot of attitude.

Enthusiasm...Draining...

I'm seeing it quite a bit around blogland and it seems I've caught the Winter Blahs too.

Exhibit A) The GE cardi. A few months ago this pattern seemed intimidating to me. I hadn't done any sweaters before. Now that I'm doing it, it has a narcotic effect on me. I literally fall asleep every time I try to knit this. Even last night while sitting in my friend's kitchen carrying on a conversation I felt my eyelids drooping as I attempted to knit past row 10 on the back.

Exhibit B) Bpt. After seeing Mariko's completed Bpt yesterday I got all excited about it. I finished dying all of my yarn just before I left for Hawaii. I cast on. I read the first line of the pattern. Huh? Wha? I muddled through it. Row 2 instructions. What the??? Who the? Huh? I was beyond confused. I called out to Mariko for help. With her explanation I ripped it out and tried again. Still no good. This has resulted in a significant decrease in enthusiasm for this project.

Exhibit C and D) See previous postings on second glove and wrist warmer.

Exhibit E) Baby Knits Cardi. I finally picked up the right number of stitches for the button band. I've completed the first three rows of 1x1 ribbing (my most hated ribbing). The sweater, despite it's small size, weighs about eight thousand pounds--without the sleeves! It's so heavy it pulls my hands down. Plus my needles are so slick that the sweater just glides right off if held at any not perfect angle.

Exhibit F) I swatched for Rogue using Highland Wool from Elann. I was right on gauge. I go to Elann to order the wool and they only have 2 or 3 colors, none of which I want.

So what do you think? Should I cast on for the No Sweat pants, another afghan square or should I look one of these projects in the eye and show it who's boss? Or maybe I should fold the mountain of laundry?

All Over But the Felting

Elle is complete. The knitting part, that is. I still need to felt, sew and add a zipper. I also still need to find the right thing to use to block the bag.



I made a few more afghan squares to send to Kay.



There's Psycho Square, Icky Checkerboard Intarsia and Embossed Twining Vine Leaf from Vogue Knitting. The leaf square was still damp and the color looks really uneven. The checkerboard is leftover Lamb's Pride Worsted. The leaf square is Cascade 220.

I'm totally bored with the GE cardi. I'm one and a half rows into the back and I'm bored stiff. Honestly, I started it on Thursday! I've decided that I will save it to knit at Stitch 'N Bitch type affairs. I can't keep track of patterns at those things so something that's just plain, boring, tedious, agonizing stockinette will be just fine.

I need to get going on the Pantalong too.

In the languishing pile right now is my second glove. If I could just finish the 1x1 ribbing on the cuff! It is taking forever. Those tiny needles. They mock me. I have also been putting off threading the beads for the second beaded cuff for about two months. I need to string a pattern of three each of eight color beads fifty-three times. Here is a picture of me thinking about it.

I'm trying to put that children's cardi together too. I spent about an hour today picking up stitches for the button band. Then ripping them out because I can't follow instructions. Then picking them up. Then ripping. Oh boy, it was a fun afternoon.

The Queen of Passive Aggression

I have a knitting related anecdote about my visit to my in-laws that I will share with you. My mother-in-law is the Queen of Passive Aggression. Really.

My father-in-law had a heart attack in October. He was in a coma for several days. My husband and his family spent a lot of time sitting around the hospital (it's the same hospital where my mother-in-law works). I knew my mother-in-law used to knit. I thought she might enjoy the diversion of having something to do, as I do during stressful times. I bought a Fiber Trends pattern for a simple shawl, some needles and beige Baby Cashmerino yarn. I don't like beige but she only wears beige. Beige clothes, beige furniture, beige car, beige purse...you get the idea. I send this stuff to her including a note saying if she's not interested in making the project she can send it back and I will knit it for her.

My husband and I agreed that the gift was most likely sitting untouched in her house somewhere. I thought I would try to knit the shawl for her during our visit. When I get there I ask about it. No, she hasn't touched it. No surprise. Would she like me to knit it for her? No, she's going to have a nurse at the hospital do it for her. Wow, score one for m-i-l. Not only won't she do it, she will deprive me of the pleasure of doing it. My husband thinks this is a tad cruel (though amusing) and decides to push it a little. "Mom, why don't you let Jess knit that shawl for you?" "Oh no, a nurse at the hospital is going to do it. She's a really good knitter."

Long live the Queen.

Hawaiian Details

Well, crud. I typed up a whole thing all about my trip. Then the computer ate it.
Okay, I'll sum it all up.

Sunday: Left Seattle 7 am. Arrive in Kona 3 pm. Kids fairly well behaved throughout. Get to hotel (complete dump). Oldest son barfs on sofa. Go swimming. See sea turtles. Try to find a restaurant for dinner and end up at Subway.

Monday: Check out of hotel--we were going to stay two nights but it's just too gross. Go to tide pools at National Energy Lab. See spinner dolphins. Children frolic (mostly naked) in tide pools. Go to Waikoloa Hilton. See captive dolphins, eat expensive food, swim, ride tram. Drive two hours to Hilo in pouring rain.

Tuesday: Twiddle thumbs in Hilo (home of in-laws).

Wednesday: More twiddling.

Thursday: Drive back to Waikoloa (weather lovely this time). Check in at Waikoloa Marriott. Go to pool with kids. Swim all day. Take a long watch on the beach. Get too much sun. In-laws meet us. Sleep terribly because both boys want to share a bed with me. They kick. A lot.

Friday: Big hotel buffet breakfast, swimming, back to the Hilton (I watch for whales while husband swims with children). Back to hotel for more swimming (kids like swimming). Shower, pack, go to big hotel buffet dinner (quantity, not quality). Say goodbye to children and go to airport. Red-eye to LAX. Leave Kona at 10 pm, arrive LA at 5 am.

Saturday: 7 am flight to Seattle (alone). Go grocery shopping (alone). Watch tv (alone) and knit afghan squares.

Sunday: Direct film series. We showed Kitchen Stories. Audience loved it. Tonight at midnight I pick up husband and kids from airport.

That's it. I hate the heat. I think the big island is dull. I hate being with my in-laws. I would have had a better time and spent a lot less money at home. Oh my god, I'm so tired.

Aloha!

I'm back!
The trip was pretty good. I won't bore you with all the details.
I've done everything on Elle except the second strap. But that's about 20 minutes of knitting. I've cast on for the GE Cardi. I'm slightly sunburnt, exhausted and starving. I will now go forage for food.

Hip to Knit Squares

Boy, this afghan square thing is fun! Today I started a stripey square using Jo Sharp Desert Garden in four shades. I had to pack those needles (metal) in my bags so I cast on another square using Lamb's Pride Worsted and Cascade 220. I'm getting a lot of intarsia practice with these. I have all my yarn, needles and pattern for the GE cardi packed in my bag. I put Elle in my carry-on along with my straggler glove.

Today at a playdate my 5 year old knocked over a cup of coffee into my felted tote! Fortunately Elle, which was riding in the bag, was relatively unscathed. The tote seems fine. It smells a lot like coffee but it's not stained. I had to take out everything and wipe it all down. What a pain.

A friend came by for a little help with a Booga Bag. It's her first knitting project so she's needed some help along the way. Today I showed her how to bind off, cast on and make i-cord. I still need a lot of practice teaching knitting. I can do it but I'm not very adept yet at explaining it.

So we're off on vacation. See you next week!

You've Heard of Crazy Quilt...

Meet Psycho Square.



Kay and Ann of Mason-Dixon Knitting have put out a call for 8 by 8 inch afghan squares. They will collect squares and have two sewing bees to assemble the squares into Afghans for Afghans. It's a great idea.

I got all fired up about doing something for charity, using up oddballs of yarn and taking a break from Elle (one, two, three, one, one, two, three, one, one, two, three, one...) that I immediately cast on and created this, er, creation. It's actually not as unattractive as I first feared. It's just a garter stitch square made from odds and ends of Kureyon and Lamb's Pride Worsted. I wanted to keep it quick and simple to give me a feeling of accomplishment. Kay and Ann will be collecting squares for the next six months so there's plenty of time for some fancy squares too.

[After looking at this post I saw what a terrible job I did of blocking my square. I have since gone back and straightened all the edges nicely.]

My Bottoms Up! BOC is turning out to be one tough customer. I have felted that sucker until my eyes crossed and it's still kind of big. I'm firing up the steamer right now to try to whip it into submission. If that doesn't work I will either have to a) grow out my hair and pile it on top of my head, as Mariko suggested or b) give it to someone with a bigger head. We'll see...

In other news, a friend of mine is off to Indiana for a family vacation. She's going to Threadbear! It's just not fair. I want to go too. As I have mentioned before in this blog, it's only a 38 hour trip by car. Road trip! (Actually I'd rather have my finger nails pulled out than drive all the way from the west coast back to the midwest. When we moved here from Chicago I had to do all the driving for three days. On the first night around ten o'clock between Moorhead, MN--no rooms available due to an antique car show--and Fargo, ND with the gas tank on empty I hit, and mostly likely killed, a small deer. Since the highway was unlit I couldn't really see the poor guy coming until it was too late. And once we pulled over we couldn't see anything. Probably the least fun I've ever had behind the wheel of a car so no road trip for me. Thank you.)

Speaking of preferring having my nails ripped out, we are leaving on Sunday to spend a week with my in-laws. On the plus side, they live in Hawaii. On the negative side, it is two plane rides totaling eight and a half hours in flight to get there. With two boys. Under six. And no portable DVD-player rentals. Light a candle for me.

The Road to Elle

I won't show you a picture of Elle today. Just imagine yesterday's with about three more inches on it. So far today (knock wood) I haven't made any mistakes in the pattern. Last night after I posted, and just before bed, I got off pattern for a full round. Once I started the next round I saw what I did. I had to fix it then and there. So I took it up to bed with me, finished ripping it out, reknit some of it and went to sleep long after 1 AM.

I went to the yarn store today and returned some unused skeins of Kureyon #115. It pained me to part with it but I've already made a purse, tote, hat and sweater in that colorway. It's time to move on. I got some size 4 needles to make the Go-Everywhere-Go-With-Everything cardigan (from now on known as GE Cardigan) and the new Interweave Knits. I like several of the patterns. I am going to join the . (I got some Homespun at Jo-Ann's tonight for that.) I dove for the new Rowan and was pretty disappointed. There were a few nice patterns but it was all either "ho-hum" or "not in a million years!" And what's with all the crochet? Rowan and IK both have crochet sections. I suck at crochet. That's why I knit.

I'm sure eventually I will see some of those patterns in a different light and will absolutely crave them. I will wait for the craving.

Bonne Marie's version of Rowan's Moonlight certainly helped me see things differently. When I saw the pattern in Rowan I thought it was frumpy but functional. Bonne Marie's version is sassy and fun. Expand your thinking, Jessica!